Healthy Immune System = Healthy Skin

Your skin and your immune system both play a huge role in protecting you from things in the environment that may cause harm and disease. Your skin is the largest organ of your body, and acts as a barrier to the outside world – it protects you from being invaded by certain microorganisms, helps you to retain your body’s moisture, protects from UV radiation, and protects the inside of your body from injury.

Your immune system is your internal barrier, that protects you from anything that may get into your body past the skin level. The immune system is divided into 2 broad categories – innate immunity and adaptive immunity. The innate immune system is activated by chemicals markers that it recognizes on the foreign invader as being not part of your body. The innate immune system will mobilize its efforts to get rid of this foreign invader. The skin is also part of innate immunity.

Adaptive immunity is more complex. Once a foreign substance is introduced into the body, the immune system ‘learns’ to identify it. From then on, the immune system is able to remember this substance, and has specific cells that can recognize that particular substance if it is ever re-introduced back into your body in the future.

We are all constantly exposed to environmental toxins, and our body also produces its own toxins when our health is out of balance. These toxins are constantly being removed by several organs – skin, liver, lungs, kidneys, large intestine, and lymphatic system. The detoxification process is basically filtering harmful chemicals from blood circulation. Toxins are always present in our bodies and our skin, but if your immune system is weak and out of balance, an inflammatory skin problem may be the result. Inflammation is vital to survival. However, inflammation if inflammation is chronic, it becomes a problem. Improper diet, stress, lack of sleep, lack of regular exercise – these all can cause the immune system to be weakened, and it may be more difficult to recover from a skin condition, such as eczema, psoriasis, acne, or vitiligo.
Two types of immune system imbalances are autoimmune disorders and allergic disorders. Health supplements, such as Vitamin C, are widely known to boost the immune system. However, Vitamin C is highly acidic, and may irritate certain skin conditions, and therefore may not necessarily be appropriate in all cases.
Sleep is of utmost importance for skin health. The ideal time to sleep, according to Chinese medical theory, is between the hours of 11 pm and 7 am. That is the optimal time of day for your body to restore itself. Stress is another big factor in skin health. A healthy mindset will lead to healthy skin. Poor diet can lead to problems in skin. If you eat too much sugar, greasy food, or processed food, this can cause toxins to create problems in the skin.